Bread & Butter is my Jam

For me, the three best things about fall are; the start of the professional football season, making big pots of chili with cornbread for Sunday dinner, and apples. Apple season kicks off mid September to Early October and we have already been seeing some great baking varieties at our local Farmer’s Markets.

There are apples that are good for eating (remember the little Red Delicious apples that were included in the “hot lunch” program when you were in elementary school?) and there are apples that are better for baking like Granny Smith, Fuji and Rome. Here I use a combination of Granny Smith (firm and tart) along with a Fuji apple or two (sweeter and softer) to make a delicious nice-slicing apple pie.

Bake Sale Bakery’s “Easy as Pie Dough”

1 ¼ Cup AP Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 ½ tsp Granulated Sugar

3 TBS Vegetable Shortening (such as Crisco)

5 TBS Very Cold Butter diced small.

5-7 TBS Cold Water

For a double crust pie, double amounts and divide into two disks before chilling

METHOD:

*cut butter and shortening into small cubes and put in freezer

Combine flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor

Sprinkle butter and shortening over the dry ingredients and toss to coat .Pulse until the fat is pea sized but not smaller.

Dump the dry/fat mixture into a bowl and add water a few TBSPs at a time. Use a fork to toss the mixture and evenly distribute the liquid. Continue to add water until the dough, while still shaggy but holds together when pressed against the side of the bowl.

Form the dough into a disk and wrap tightly, let disk cool in the refrigerator for at least two hours but up to 2 days.

When ready, pin the dough out to fit the size of your pie tin making sure it is large enough to hang over the edge.

If you are making a single crusted pie, crimp edges and blind bake your crust.

If you are making a double crusted pie, place top crust over bottom and crimp them together to flute edges and create a seal.

*Make sure to keep the butter and dough cold, do not over work the dough as it will be tough.